Om Nom

You could say I discovered Bombay Bhel one day by accident. At the time of discovery I was on my way to Anton’s Pasta Bar which of course ended of course ended up having a long lineup. So instead of standing in line we kept walking and entered Bombay Bhel which is next door where no lineup awaited me.

Appetizer at Bombay Bhel

Admittedly Indian food is somewhat new to me. Up until about six months ago my knowledge of Indian food was limited to Butter Chicken. So discovering Bombay Bhel turned out to be a good thing. My first impression is that the restaurant tries to hard to be a cool and hip place to eat, the Earl’s of the Indian food world one could say. During the day the front windows brings a large amount of light into the front half of the restaurant but at night the restaurant is plunged into darkness and filled with a hybrid offspring of Indian techno music.

The food however is quite good. I have yet to be disappointed by any of the dishes I’ve tried in the last three visits to Bombay Bhel. The chicken has always been done perfectly, the lamb dishes are nice and tender and during one visit I had to try goat curry which threw me off since it included bones but was good as well. Value wise, the dishes are priced fairly well and the portions are large.

Overall Bombay Bhel delivers a good meal and is never super busy to the point where you have to wait for a seat for very long. I would definitely recommend it if you find yourself stuck in line for it’s neighbour Anton’s Pasta Bar.

Bombay Bhel
4266 Hastings St Burnaby
Telephone: 604-299-2500
www.bombaybhelrestaurant.com

Heavenly Bites, aka the new kid on the block, is a small Indian restaurant located in the Burnaby Height’s area. This restaurant I must say has peaked my interest as it took a really, really long time to open but in the end it was worth the wait.

Inside Heavenly Bites

Heavenly Bites focuses on an Indian tradition called Tiffen Boxes which as I just recently found out are small metal pots that fasten together with a handle.

My knowledge of Indian restaurants is some what limited so I can’t quite compare Heavenly Bites with other Indian places and get away with sounding smart. What I do know is I like their style. The restaurant itself is small and minimalistic other than one or two art pieces you’d never know you walked into an Indian restaurant. There is no separate menu if you chose to stay so they hand you the take out menu.

For the appetizer we ordered Pakora ($4.45) which was amazing. I could not stop eating it the pieces were cooked perfectly and the sauce they provided for our meal (not sure what it was but came in a Jones Soda bottle) went well with it. For my Tiffen Box ($9.95) I chose Karai Chicken to accompany my random vegetable curry and rice.  If you prefer not to have the Tiffen Box you save $2 but miss out on the vegetable curry of the day.

Karai Chicken Tiffen Box

The Karai Chicken had a great flavor, tasted very fresh and the chicken was perfectly done. As for the vegetable curry  it was a bit cold in places but still very tasty.

Will I be going back to Heavenly Bites? Why yes, yes I will. The quality of food, the friendliness of the staff, the feeling of home cooking in the food all adds up to a very nice meal. The only downfall for this place is that it closes early. 7pm cuts the dinner time window short and maybe one day they’ll extend their hours as business picks up. But for now, Heavenly Bites will be a very strong contender for a great tasting lunch.

Heavenly Bites
4016 Hastings Street Burnaby BC
Telephone:
www.heavenlybite.ca